Tech Forum

I am wondering if there are any specific policies for having an Activity Specific website for multiple stakes to use for a given event? If anyone has any information on this, I would appreciate getting it. I recall when the ward/stake websites were created stakes and wards were ask to discontinue the use of their individual websites. Would this also be the case with a specific event website? The event site would only be for individuals to register, provide event specific information and instruction and directions for the activity.

Ross Penrod
Atlanta, Georgia

(Questions relating to Priest/Laurel LDS Prom, which draws from 10 different stakes in the Atlanta and Atlanta North Regions.)

There are discussions similar to this in other threads. You will not get a difinitive answer to this issue in these forums. The policy letter for Authorized Church Web Sites does mention your specific situation: (emphasis added)

This restriction includes but is not limited to temples, missions, visitors' centers, auxiiaries, quorums, classes, Scout units, and committees for special events. Any such Web sites or e-mail groups should be discontinued immediately.

Unless you can get an area authority to specifically approve such a web site it looks like the policy does not permit it.

I would recommend one or more of the stake presidents affected by the event to contact the appropriate authority for approval.

You could use the LUWS for each stake affected to post the necessary information. It would not, however, permit on-line registration.

Thank you. Can you give me the date or location of the quote that you used in the last response? That would be helpful information.

rtpenrod wrote:Thank you. Can you give me the date or location of the quote that you used in the last response? That would be helpful information.

If you follow the link he provided to Authorized Church Web Sites you will see the full letter, date (13 Dec 2004), and signature of the First Presidency.

jdlessley wrote:You could use the LUWS for each stake affected to post the necessary information. It would not, however, permit on-line registration.

Thank you, jdlessley. I was trying to figure out how to do this and drawing a blank. LUWS is an excellent suggestion.

Some selected Young Single Adult areas have received permission to host sites, but I think there would be a big concern about doing the same for a group of Priests and Laurels, because of their age. I personally think the risk would be too great.

lajackson wrote:Thank you, jdlessley. I was trying to figure out how to do this and drawing a blank. LUWS is an excellent suggestion.

Does LUWS permit including mailto: links? That would be at least be a partially automated solution to the registration problem.

boomerbubba wrote:Does LUWS permit including mailto: links? That would be at least be a partially automated solution to the registration problem.

I don't know that LUWS permits the actual link, but some brave and daring soul could certainly put their e-mail address into the message and the youth would figure out how to use it.

boomerbubba wrote:Does LUWS permit including mailto: links? That would be at least be a partially automated solution to the registration problem.

Not directly, but you can attach a PDF, which can contain links, either regular links to sites or mailto: links. For the event that is the topic of this thread, a PDF might be helpful since the same info would need to be posted on 10 different stake web sites.

Alan_Brown wrote:Not directly, but you can attach a PDF, which can contain links, either regular links to sites or mailto: links. For the event that is the topic of this thread, a PDF might be helpful since the same info would need to be posted on 10 different stake web sites.

Hmm. Adobe Acrobat Professional has a feature called LiveCycle that allows creation of PDF-based forms for data collection, which can include a mailto link for submitting the data. Related functionality allows the Acrobat Pro user to harvest the data from returned forms.

I've never tried this functionality, so don't consider this an endorsement. But at first glance the product seems suitable.

Of course, someone in the project administration would need to own a license to Adobe Acrobat Professional. Maybe someone owns such software. Otherwise the cost could be balanced against the free-labor cost of those who have the calling(s) to implement the multi-stake project.

EDIT: Upon further investigation, it appears that Adobe applies a limit of 500 forms to such data collection. That limit is applied in the licensing. Above that, the customer is expected to license a pricier add-on. So while this particular product might scale appropriately for a ward-level task, using it for a multi-stake task might be a different matter.

Another possibility is to make a pdf or something explaining the event and include a link to a form created with google docs.